This Goes in the "How Did I Get Here" File

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Well, sometimes you just plan to go out for dinner and adventure takes over.

I have generally lived a somewhat subdued life here...work, go home, work, go home, etc. but recently things have started happening. ?The other night John (another teacher at my school) and I had planned to try a dubu (tofu) restaurant. We had made definite plans and then two Korean men who work at our school (and don't speak English) invited John out for drinks after work. He couldn't turn it down, but he made sure to include me in on the outing. UH-oh. By the end of our work shift (9:40 pm), we had two more teachers decide to join us.
We first went to a traditional style restaurant that cooks the meat right at the table and we sat on the floor. Being a vegetarian, I managed to have a lot of rice and vegetables wrapped in lettuce and sesame leaves. Not bad. There was lots of mikju (beer) and soju (strong rice wine) flowing and clinking of glasses with the exclamation of Kombae!. I learned quickly that if I did not want to get utterly plowed, I could not empty my soju glass very fast because it would be refilled. We had a great time trying to communicate with the Korean guys and taking in the surroundings.
I was happy the Korean "oldest male pays" rule wasn't just "oldest pays" because I would have been responsible for the bill. The three other teachers were all young enough to be my sons, and I'm guessing I beat out the older Korean guy by a few years. ?The Korean guys invited all of us to go to a norebang (Korean Karaoke room). Norebang is a beloved Korean pastime and a trip to Korea is not complete without going at least once. ?What an odd crew we were! I have to say it added to the entertainment of the evening. We croaked out songs and laughed until when I left them at 1 AM as they were looking for another place to drink beer. That's some serious fun. I'm still laughing at the thought of dancing and singing with these guys. I can see why the Koreans like it so much!

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Photos

Hey, Teacher, leave those kids alone
On the video screen in the back ground, you can see we were singing a Pink Floyd song from "The Wall"

Rock star
Who knows what he was singing

Norebang!
I think David was working for the points that the machine rates you at the end of each song.

Comments

[Linda Ward]

I'm sure enjoying your journals
I'm almost computer illiterate so it's a wonder I'm even able to read this blog thing but I'm enjoying it immensely. I'll likely never go to Korea but my brother's whole family is Korean and I love them dearly so am truly enjoying all your experiences and the food tastings. I tried bibimbap when my neice ordered it in Tampa and I loved it...now I need to get mom to be brave enough to go try it. My sister in law made a korean pancake from a mix when she was here and added kimchee and fresh chives as well as many other ingredients and they were wonderful...try to find them and tell me how you like them. They were served at room temp. Enjoy your experience...a year will go very quickly.

[Abraham]

The left teacher is handsome
He is handsome, don't you think?